Superior Oil Company

The Superior Oil Company was an American oil company founded in 1921 in Coalinga, California, by William Myron Keck,[1][2] Superior Oil began as a drilling contracting firm and grew into the exploration and production of oil and natural gas.[1] In 1930 the company was the first to successfully use directional drilling in California. Moving to Houston, Texas.

By 1931 the company had wells in Texas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Louisiana and Venezuela. In 1938, the company constructed the first offshore oil platform off the coast of Louisiana in the Gulf of Mexico. In the 1970s, Superior Oil was involved in the oil shale industry developing the Superior multimineral process. In September 1984 the company, then based in Houston, became a wholly owned subsidiary of Mobil. The company was sold to Mobil Corporation in 1984, merging into it.

History

Background

Company founder William Myron Keck, also founder of the W. M. Keck Foundation, started his career as a "roustabout" in the oil business in Pennsylvania, before making his way to California. In California, he worked as a speculator drilling wells on contract for big oil companies. He often would take payment as leases instead of cash.[3] Keck was very successful as an oil prospector. In one instance at the height of the oil boom in the 1920s in Los Angeles, he was the only "wildcatter" to purchase and retain a lease on 300 acres of Andrew Joughin's farm outside Torrance. While other prospectors turned away from the property, Keck's "46 highly productive wells were considered one of California's most successful oil-drilling projects.[4] Keck also struck oil in California's Huntington Beach[5] and Kettleman Hills oil fields.[6] Author Kevin Krajick has described Keck as "the world's greatest oil prospector, a man whose instincts about the location of petroleum were so uncanny, some believed him clairvoyant."[7]

1921-1962: Founding and techniques

The Superior Oil Company was founded in 1921 in Coalinga, California, by Keck,[1] after he had accumulated enough leases to start his own firm.[3] Superior Oil began as a drilling contracting firm and grew into other oil services including exploration and production of oil and natural gas.[1] The company soon focused on the exploration and production of oil and gas, and was involved with a number of new methods. In 1930 the company was the first to successfully use directional drilling in California.[8] Keck was one of the first oilmen to move his business to Houston, Texas,[6] and by 1931, the company had wells in Texas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Louisiana and Venezuela.[3]

1963-1983: Change in leadership

From the company's founding in 1921 until 1963, Superior Oil was led by its founder, W. M. Keck. Running his company like a "one-man machine," Keck kept control of the company's stock after it went public.[6] The elder Keck served as chairman of Superior, and at the time of his death in 1964, his family owned 51 per cent of Superior's shares.[14] Upon Keck's death, his son William M. Keck Jr. became Superior's chief executive officer,[3] followed by leadership from Keck's second son Howard B. Keck[15] from 1963 until 1981.[16] Upon Keck's death, 11,000 shares of Superior stock, valued at $17 million in 1964, were placed in trust to be divided among the University of Southern California, Pomona College, Occidental College, and the Episcopal Church of Our Saviour, San Gabriel, California.[14]

1983-1984: Acquisition by Mobil

In October 1983, Howard B. Keck stepped down as a director, while still controlling 18.4 percent of the company, saying he wanted to sell his stake. In late 1983, an "uneasy truce" was reached between two major stockholders, former chairman Howard B. Keck and his sister Willametta Keck Day. Day had in April of that year "led a stockholder revolt" leading to changes in Superior's bylaws, requiring the company's management to consider takeover bids. Howard Keck had opposed the bylaw change. He reversed his position on the bylaws November 1983 and disclosed his intention to sell his stake.[21] Several months before March 1984, the Keck family, which owned a total of about 22 percent of the stock of Superior, approached Mobil Corporation (now part of ExxonMobil) with an offer to sell the family stock.

In March 1984, Mobil announced that it had "secretly" agreed to buy the 22 percent, and would offer the company's remaining stockholders the same price, at $45 a share.[22] In March 1984, Superior Oil was in the process of being acquired by Mobil for $5.7 billion.[23][24]

type	Public
fate	Acquired by Mobil
industry	Petroleum
founded	1921
founder	William Myron Keck
defunct	1984
hq location	The Superior Oil Company Building
hq location city	Los Angeles, California